Dads Toy

I thought I could do it without disturbing the centreing, but it with the effort involved in getting the arm, off it moved significantly. The centreing procedure is dead simple, on a RHD vehicle turn the wheel to fulll left lock, turn the wheel back eaxactly 2 whole turns and the box is centred! You'll then find that the arm will locate on the 4 bigger splines and that the large notch on the back of the drop arm lines up with the vertical hole in the back of the steering box. If you haven't got the hole, then when you put the arm on, you'll find it doesn't point exactly forward but slightly offset, that's correct. There's no strain when you centre the box as nothing is connected to the box and you don't even need the engine on. Couldn't believe how straightforward that went, but it did. You will need the large 60mm lock washer for the Disco arm. Malcolm

Have you got both ecccentric inserts in the hinges on the bulkead the right way round?

I've just done this, last week. The drop arm number is correct for RHD, you need a Defender steering damper plus a bracket to locate the end that goes at the drop arm end. It has to go very close to the end of the drag link to ensure it's at the same distance as the old one. It has a pin plus 2 lock nuts at the chassis end and an eye at the drop arm end. I have a few photo's of the job and the hardest part is getting the old drop arm off!!!! Oh, you need a 34mm socket for the nut and it's done up mental tight. Once that's done it's very straightforward indeed. Rave is very good regarding centreing the steering box and about ensuring the steering wheel ends up centred. Oh the other difficult bit was getting a new 60mm locking washer. I personally won't re-use old one's, but had to order a new one from Land Rover (factory) as no one else seemed to have any and it was only £3 for a genuine one. Malcolm

I couldn't justify (to 'er indoors) buying a quality gun for occasional use so when they came up for peanuts in Aldi I got one. Yup, don't expect it to last too long (3 yr warranty if you remember to keep the reciept) but hey it's already been worth it for that one nut on the drop arm. I now know how it works and have the parts diagram which helped me get it going again when I messed up. All in all satisfied with the value plus chuffed to get it working again on my own! Thanks Malcolm

Thanks to CwazyWabbit I now have it working again I spent all afternoon taking it apart completely and can now see why they are so cheap - they're just not quite finished off and some of the parts aren't quite right but if you adjust them it works. My basic error was tightening the air inlet nut up!!! The spring and ball bearing control the air via the trigger but the spring is actually too long so if you snug up the nut you can't get the trigger to move the rod far enough to operate. Slacken the nut and hey presto it works but it really needs a shorter spring or some washers under the nut. I'd oiled it some time earlier and again on dismantling found the drilling for the grub screw hadn't been cleaned so breakthrough swarf was scoring parts. Again, if you screw the grub screw fully in, it fouls the innards. Getting one of the larger bits (No.27 in the diag) in/out was very hard as the case had only roughly been bored out but a few minutes with some wet&dry sorted that. All in all I'm very pleased to have it back working and know what to look for next time. And for the price? Delighted

Yes! That's it, thanks for the diagram and link. At least I can see how some of it works. It was item 10 that I undid by mistake but have put 10,9,8,7,6 back in order but no joy. As far as I can see all that assembly does is allow the air in when the trigger is pressed and shut it of via the ball and spring when it's released. I assssume item 11 the "Torque control" regulates the amount of air item 10 will let in. I'm getting air out of 38 so maybe there's a problem with 2,3. Anyway thanks again for the info, I now have something to reference when I take it apart. Malcolm

Hi all, Hope someone can help with a daft problem I have managed to create. I've got one of those cheap air impact wrench's from Aldi and so far it's actually been extremely good for what I need. I'd just used it to take the nut off the drop arm on my Defender and wanted to swap the brass quick release couplng only I unscrewed the black threaded air inlet by mistake. Well that resulted in a twang and and a ball bearing fell out and a tapered spring shot across the garage (well I think that's all that came out) No problem, just put them back I thought. Well the ball and spring seem to control the trigger returning via a waisted pin, but when I put the bits back - of course, it doesn't work. Of course I didn't keep the reciept for the 3 year warranty as it was so cheap and the service people won't help without it, not even a parts diagram. Any suggestions welcome how I might resurrect it - surely it can't be that terminal just unscrewing the air inlet, but knowing the way my luck is at the moment it will be. Malcolm

Why not just post their Post Code here? At least we'll have an idea of where to avoid without naming anyone with it's subsequent implications and it's not specific just an area.

I got my one from "Mudstuff" and it works correctly. He seems to be the only outlet for one that fits defenders so make sure you have the right one. His come with wiring connections and is easy enough to fit. Did your wash/wipe work correctly with the round switch? Malcolm

Thought about doing that with mine, but scared I'll break the glass (presumably you wind it down or take it out first) or bu**er the frame! I'm pretty good at the ignorance part, not too bad at the brute strength but there always seems to be a bit of something missing when I use this technical procedure! Malcolm

Agree with the 2 above, only use genuine. I tried the cheap way - waste of money. Malcolm

Reassuring to know that mine is the same as a lot of others - and stopped me worrying about it.

On a similar vein, a chum has just started to get vibes from his rear prop so took it off but couldn't get the cups out. Tight for time he took it to a garage who now reckon it needs a new prop shaft! They say there's too much play when they put new cups in, they slide about in the yoke - not sure how this could happen when the old one's were very tight. Not convinced they're not trying to put wrong one's in. Will find out tomorrow when I take him to pick it up. Malcolm

Is it critical where the damper bracket goes? I intend to measure the distance from the chassis on the original set up and put the new bracket at that distance on the new bar. Presumably as long as the damper doesn't bottom (or top) out it should work. Malcolm

If the size of the hole in the bulkhead is correct for the flow, then why did they make the blower aperture bigger? Surely you'd match the 2. I'm about to replace my heater but didn't know about this so interested in any theories but certainly think I'll enlarge mine to match. Malcolm

I'm slowly working my way round checking everything on my 300Tdi and whilst checking the fluid level in the power steering reservoir I notice there doesn't seem to be any sort of seal in the cap. The outside of the neck is a bit damp with fluid so assume it comes from the cap but there doesn't seem to be any way it seals onto the neck. Is this right? I expected to find some sort of rubber seal inside the cap but it doesn't look like there's a recess for one. Malcolm

Thanks for the replies, I've put the normal filter in. Due to the way the 300Tdi air intake system works with the filter held horizontally and the end held firmly against a closed end, there can't be any swirl effect so assume someone just happened to have this one lying around and put it in. Malcolm

Thanks Western, The new one looks exactly like the one in your first link but the one I've taken out looks like this Which is why I was a little uncertain regarding the plastic fitting. I take it that's an add on "for improved performance and economy" that's totally unnecessary. Malcolm

I'm about to replace the air filter on my '95 300Tdi and have ordered a new one (ESR 2623 made by Mahle ). This has just arrived and is different to the one in the housing. The new one is just a cylinder but the old one has a plastic base with fan blades on it's side. Is this a "cyclone" filter or is it supposed to pull off the old one and be put onto the new one before fitting. I'm not sure how it's supposed to work as the air goes down the centre of the filter into the engine so any rotation of air is completely negated let alone when it gets chopped up by the valves! Malcolm

Also check that the arm on top (and the side) actually moves the shaft - they're only held together by a clip. The clips are NOT available and as mine has broken so I'm about to modify it by welding the arm onto the shaft! Malcolm

Yep that's the one's. They're genuine original and I'm perfectly happy with them - no slop unlike some others! Malcolm

Maybe I'm just a muppet but I failed on this one. I couldn't quite get the 2 holes in the bulkhead part to line up exactly despite using a pillar drill and drill press and if the hole through the other part is just a smidgen oversize you're back at square one. The idea's great, it's just not quite that easy as everything has to be in a perfect line and to exact size. Gave up and bought a new set of o.e. ones from a site that had them for about £20 - job done. Malcolm

Found the answer - it's not available! You have to buy a complete heater box - yeah right. Whoever designed an arm to fit on a round shaft like this needs a new job. Looks like a job with a welder or I'll make my own bracket and clamp. Malcolm

This is what I'm looking for Malcolm

Hi, I'm refurbishing the heater box for my '95 300Tdi and need to replace the arm that controls the flap for hot/cold air. It sits on the shaft on top of the box and seems to be held on by a spring washer/lock tab arrangement. The arm itself is OK and I have the trunnion that the operating cable fits into but the spring thingy that fixes the arm to the shaft has broken and this is the part number I need. This seems to be the only thing that stops the arm rotating on the shaft. I've looked in Microcat and parts books but it doesn't seem to be listed. I can put a photo up if that helps. Thanks Malcolm